The rivalry between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers is on full display this afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. Chris Kreider is also fully involved.

It was only a matter of time before the physical play would expose itself in Friday’s matinee between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

The two rivaling clubs always seem to be getting involved in contests where fists are thrown and penalty minutes are high, and there were minimal signs of that theme not being the case this time around.

Last year, it came to the surprise of nobody that it was Wayne Simmonds and Dylan McIlrath who highlighted the always entertaining physical play. This year, however, saw two unfamiliar faces getting involved in the rivalry’s latest nasty altercation.

Just about midway through the first period, Blueshirts’ sniper Brandon Pirri sent Flyers’ defenseman Brandon Manning thundering into the boards with a questionable hit in the Rangers’ offensive zone. Whether the hit warranted two minutes in the sin bin is uncertain. What is clear is that Travis Konecny was disturbed by Pirri’s hit (video above).

The Flyers’ rookie tracked down Pirri seconds later and threw him to the ice, sending the Philadelphia faithful into a frenzy. The two would both be penalized, with Konecny picking up a 10-minute misconduct.

Then in the waning seconds of the opening period, Chris Kreider, and the previously mentioned Manning dropped the gloves, which resulted in Kreider dropping Manning right in front of the penalty box.

It’s official folks. The New York-Philadelphia rivalry is back. Expect more physical play in the final 40 minutes of this one. The Rangers take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on goals from Derek Stepan and the new guy, Matt Puempel.